Real (Problems) Talk

Ally MacLean

By now, you may have been curious enough about our company and the badass team of women behind it to have visited our ‘About’ page--if not, that’s cool too, we’re not offended...but hey, the link is right up there in the main navigation on top of this page, just sayin’.

I only bring this up because we’ve dedicated part of the page to describing Our Values. The first is Empowerment, and the third is Sustainability and Social Responsibility. Those are all big-girl words that carry a lot of meaning for us, deserving of much longer blog posts than what I feel like writing today. So I’m going to focus on the second: Solving Real Problems.

This post is pretty short, NOT because Solving Real Problems is less important (I mean, come on, it is one of Our Values, and also I don’t capitalize things lightly), but because this particular Value is pretty self-explanatory.

We want to make useful products that actually help women on their adventures, no matter the duration or destination.

No more “shrink it and pink it!!!” What is that, you ask? Unfortunately, it’s the mentality that many gear companies have when it comes to “making” stuff for women. See, all too often, “making” means adapting products that were probably first made with a man in mind (shrink it!), and offering it in “feminine” colorways (pink it!). Hey, if it works for the guys, it should work for the gals, right? And they all like pink (and purple and pastels), right? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, amiright?

Nope, nope, nope. This way of thinking is broke AF, for so many reasons. Not the least of which is that women have different bodies and different biological realities than men (that wasn’t so hard, was it?), and we need quality products, designed to reflect that from the very beginning--not as an afterthought.

The first Real Problem that we’re tackling pertains to the most basic biological difference between men and women: WOMEN HAVE PERIODS, and there’s NOTHING out there to help us manage them while we’re adventuring (I mean, how can you shrink and pink something that men don’t even need? Smh, broke AF) More on that in our next blog post.

As for Real Problems 2, 3, 4, and beyond...ladies, WE NEED YOU! We want to know: what essential gear (or lack thereof) is holding you back? What kinds of barriers to your adventures can we help break down? We absolutely welcome feedback: on what we’re doing right, what could be better, and what we still need to address.

but srsly, how can we help? sign up below to get in touch and be in the know!